We’ve had a quiet time in dramaland, with just a couple of new premieres each week the past few months. But with spring comes new premieres and there are six new dramas to look forward to.
365: Repeat the Year
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: MBC
Genre: Fantasy, mystery, thriller
Episode count: 24 (35 minute episodes)
Reasons to watch: When a mysterious woman, played by Kim Ji-soo, invites 10 people to reset their lives by going back one year in time, it seems like a gift from fate. With the knowledge of a year’s worth events, our time traveling crew, which include Lee Jun-hyuk, Nam Ji-hyun, and Yang Dong-geun, attempt to improve their lives and prevent personal tragedies from occurring. But they quickly learn that the smallest change in the “past” impacts their future–and that death is looming over them all. Lee Jun-hyuk and Nam Ji-hyun come from very different backgrounds, Lee is a violent crimes detective while Nam Ji-hyun is a celebrity webtoon artist, but when they face unexpected obstacles and intractable mysteries, they team up to uncover the truths behind some difficult questions in their lives. The biggest question that faces them: Who will survive?
A Piece of Your Mind
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: tvN
Genre: Melo, romance
Episode count: 16 episodes
Reasons to watch: Love is a funny thing, even when unrequited, you can’t always stop yourself from holding a flame for someone. Jung Hae-in and Chae Soo-bin know this all too well–Jung has been nursing a years-long crush on his first love and Chae Soo-bin has her own unrequited feelings for Jung Hae-in. Lee Hana joins the drama as a longtime friend of Jung Hae-in’s who develops a love-hate relationship with Kim Sung-gyu’s character. Kim plays a very talented pianist–who just so happened to marry Jung Hae-in’s first love. That first love also turns out to be the catalyst behind Chae and Jung’s first meeting. As Chae grows closer to Jung Hae-in, she finds herself drawn to him, despite knowing about his feelings for another woman. We’ll have to watch to see if these two romantics be content with just a piece of someone’s mind, or if a new romance bloom between them.
Welcome
Time slot: Wednesday & Thursday
Broadcaster: KBS
Genre: Fantasy, rom-con
Episode count: 32
Reasons to watch: When an aspiring webtoon writer, Shin Ye-eun, brings home a stray cat one day, she had no idea that her life was about to change. Friendly and prone to get attached to people easily, Shin Ye-eun’s new cat friend turns out to be a human who can transform into a cat (or maybe a cat that can turn into a human), played by L. Together, they get into all sorts of hijinks and L falls in love with Shin Ye-eun. His romantic feelings are tangled up with self-doubt as he’s not even sure how he manages to transform…and then there’s Seo Ji-hoon to contend with. A longtime friend of Shin’s, Seo Ji-hoon spends most of his time alone and he’s aloof with everyone and everything except for Shin Ye-eun and cats. Is friendship all that Seo Ji-hoon is after or is he hoping for more? Can the cat-human win over our puppy-like heroine?
A Couple’s World
Time slot: Friday & Saturday
Broadcaster: JTBC
Genre: Melo
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: Based on the BBC show Doctor Foster, Kim Hee-ae stars as a protagonist who seems to have it all. She has a successful career in medicine, a loving son, and a perfect relationship with her husband, Park Hae-joon. When her husband starts to behave strangely, Kim Hee-ae’s suspicions grow into concern, then anger: the happy life she thought she had built with her husband turned out to be an illusion. Her husband, despite still loving her, committed a terrible betrayal. Her discovery can never be unlearned and it fuels a desire for revenge that can’t be sated, even though she may end up destroying herself in the process. The drama will ask difficult questions about the nature of love and just how thin the line between love and hate can be.
Unique! Chef Moon
Time slot: Friday & Saturday
Broadcaster: Channel A
Genre: Rom-com
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: Eric stars as a celebrity chef who moves away to the countryside for his mental health after the sudden and tragic death of his parents. He’s all set to take time to grieve and cook his heart out with delicious ingredients when he runs into Go Won-hee. In her normal life, she’s a glam fashion designer, but when they meet in the countryside, she’s just lost her memory due to an untimely mishap. Despite being complete strangers, Go Won-hee manages to snag a place to stay at Eric’s home. As they grow closer together and closer to feeling whole, Eric comes to terms with his loss while Go Won-hee works to reclaim her lost memories. Their unusual living arrangement leads to some exasperation, lots cooking, and the start of a beautiful romance.
Rugal
Time slot: Saturday & Sunday
Broadcaster: OCN
Genre: Action, crime
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: Choi Jin-hyuk and Park Sung-woong go head to head in this webtoon adaptation that focuses on an epic battle between forces of good and evil. Choi’s pleasant life is changed irrevocably when he loses both his wife and his sight in a horrific event. The event was no accident–it was engineered by Argos, an underground criminal syndicate headed by Park Sung-woong. Having hit rock bottom, it seemed there was no way out of Choi’s pit of despair–until a mysterious and powerful group going by the name of Rugal recruits him to join them on a mission to destroy Argos. In return for his allegiance, he’s fitted with bionic eyes and joins several other elite warriors, all hellbent on gaining justice and destroying Argos.